Trans-Sister Radio

Abridged
Author: Chris Bohjalian
Narrator: Judith Ivey
Genres: Romance, Fiction
Publisher: Random House (Audio)
Date: May 2000
Length: 5 hours
Ratings:
  • Book Rating: 4/5
Formats:
  • CD

Overview

What if the person you have fallen madly, firmly in love with were to tell you that they are someone else--someone you are suddenly unsure you know? New York Times best-selling author Chris Bohjalian, known and loved for his inventive tales of people caught in moral and ethical dilemmas, posits this very question in a romantic and edgy new novel that's impossible to put down.

Alison Banks is an elementary school teacher in her early 40s, whose only daughter is leaving soon for college. To take her mind off the impending separation, she takes a course at the local college and finds herself falling in love with her instructor, Dana. Handsome, sexy, and charming, he is the man Alison had given up hope of ever meeting.

Months into their almost idyllic relationship, he confides a powerful and intimate piece of information: he loves her, but he has long known that he is a woman trapped in the body of a man. After much soul searching and in order to free himself, he is having a sex-change operation at the end of the year.

Alison bolts, but comes back to him when she realizes how deeply in love she actually is. The story is told--in alternating chapters--by Alison; her teenage daughter, Carly; her ex-husband, Will; and the charismatic Dana, each adding layers of insight and complexity, each responding in his or her own way to the issue of how and why we love exactly who we do.

In his best-selling novels Midwives and The Law of Similars, Chris Bohjalian examined, with remarkable subtlety and empathy, how lives can be changed through one seemingly random occurrence. In Trans-Sister Radio, he uses that subtlety and empathy to explore the very nature of love and identity. With this compelling, unforgettable new novel, Bohjalian gives his many readers a love story, a tense cautionary tale of morality, an outstanding cast of characters, and a whole new way of thinking about love.

Reviews (5)

Trans-Sister Radio

Written by Anonymous from Alexandria, VA on May 10th, 2008

  • Book Rating: 4/5

A bit graphic, sexually, but an intriguing story! I almost stopped a couple times but am glad I listened to it all the way through. The reader's voice for the male character is highly annoying and the story-telling style is a little hard to get used to (ie. transcripts from radio shows during parts of it) ~ but it opened my eyes to a whole world that is quite new to me, and I'm glad for the seemingly honest and very personal exposure to it.

Trans-Sister Radia

Written by Anonymous from Fishers, IN on October 11th, 2007

  • Book Rating: 4/5

I first heard bits and pieces of this book on a random house audio hour. The narrator, Judith Ivey, is fascinating in her ability to change voices for each of the characters. I couldn't wait to hear the whole book. A beautiful and touching story of what it means to love and be true to yourself. The story is compelling and the narrator captivating. A really really good listen.

Great Listen

Written by Anonymous from Sycamore, IL on June 25th, 2005

  • Book Rating: 4/5

I really liked this book. The characters are very interesting and people I'd have as friends.

Tran-Sister Radio

Written by Anonymous on April 20th, 2005

  • Book Rating: 4/5

A great Listen - and a great story with many twists and turns. Truely unique characters enhanced by the different voices the he uses on the tape

Trans-Sister Radio

Written by Anonymous on April 18th, 2005

  • Book Rating: 3/5

A great read a true love story, no matter how you look at it.

Author Details

Author Details

Bohjalian, Chris

"Chris Bohjalian is the author of nine novels, and a collection of essays (Idyll Banter). He won the New England Book Award in 2002. His novel Midwives was a number one New York Times bestseller, a selection of Oprah's Book Club, a Publishers Weekly ""Best Book,"" and a New England Booksellers Association Discovery pick. His work has been translated into 17 languages, been published in 20 countries, and twice become acclaimed movies (Midwives and Past the Bleachers). The Buffalo Soldier, The Law of Similars, and Water Witches are all in development for movies, as well. He has written for a wide variety of magazines, including Cosmopolitan, Reader's Digest, and the Boston Globe Sunday Magazine, and has been a Sunday columnist for Gannett's Burlington Free Press since 1992. Chris graduated from Amherst College, and lives in Vermont with his wife and daughter."